1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sliding-type portable terminal in which a pair of housings are slidably connected with each other while facing each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term “portable terminals” in general refers to handheld devices that provide a mobile communication capability to users. As technology has progressed, portable terminals have gone beyond merely being mobile communication devices. More recently, portable terminals are becoming integrated devices that provide multimedia functions, such as playing back music files, moving picture files, and the like with financial service functions, such as making a micro payment using the portable terminal, providing general banking services, and the like.
Such portable terminals may be classified into a bar-type, a flip-type and a folder-type according to their appearance. Sliding-type terminals have recently appeared and are currently commanding a majority of the market of portable terminals, together with the folder-type terminals.
The bar-type terminal includes a single housing having input/output units such as a keypad and a transmitter, a display device, and a receiver arranged therein. The bar-type terminal has an advantage that it is simple because all components for the mobile communication function are arranged in the single housing. However, the bar-type portable terminal has a limitation on compactness because the terminal should be designed to sufficiently space the transmitter and the receiver from each other for voice call.
The flip-type terminal includes a bar type body and a flip cover pivotally connected to the body. The flip cover closes an input unit, such as a keypad, in a standby mode thereof, thereby preventing the keypad from erroneously operating. Similar to the bar-type terminal, the flip-type terminal has a limitation on compactness due to the distance between the transmitter and the receiver.
The folder-type terminal includes a pair of housings which are foldably connected together. In the folder-type terminal, input units and output units are respectively arranged in each housing whereby the folder-type terminal has a beneficial advantage on compactness as well as ensuring the distance between a transmitter and a receiver thereof. Therefore, the folder-type terminal has held a majority of the portable terminal market share for some time.
The sliding-type terminal includes a pair of housings which are slidingly connected to each other. In the sliding-type terminal, input units and output units are respectively arranged in each housing and a keypad of the input units is opened/closed according to the sliding movement of the housings. Such an arrangement prevents erroneous operation of the keypad, provides convenient use and provides a beneficial advantage on compactness. For these reasons, the sliding-type terminal has gradually made inroads into the portable terminal market and is occupying a higher market share than the folder-type terminal.
Korean patent No. 484,732, dated Apr. 13, 2005 (and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,822,871, issued Nov. 23, 2004) granted to the applicant discloses various types of such sliding-type portable terminals.
Such a sliding-type portable terminal is provided with an elastic member in order to provide convenience for opening and closing the terminal. However, use of the elastic member in the sliding-type portable terminal creates a difficult problem in that the availability of necessary space for the elastic member must be ensured while at the same time ensuring wiring paths for flexible printed circuits.
For the purpose of ensuring the space of the elastic member and the flexible printed circuits, various types of modified elastic members have been disclosed. For example, an elastic member including a pair of coils received in a housing and free ends extending from the coils has been proposed. Such an elastic member efficiently utilizes the small space but has a higher manufacturing cost for the pair of coils and the housing to receive the free ends of the coils which in turn results in a higher cost of the terminal.
Further, the conventional sliding-type portable terminal has a sliding module that is a separate unit requiring a complex assembling process, which increases the time and cost needed to manufacture the module. Also, the conventional sliding-type portable terminal has a limitation on compactness because the module has a layered structure consisting of a number of parts.